ericafny
<font color=purple>OK, I am a real Harry Potter ge
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 1,375
Hi everyone! This is my first trip report, so it may be a little choppy
I will try to make it as entertaining as possible and give as much detail as possible. If anyone has any other questions feel free to PM me! OK, so here it is...
Cast:
Me (26) - Have been to Disney four other times, most recent was 8 years ago.
BF (25) - Has been only two other times, didn't stay onsite for the most recent time.
Day One - Part 1:
4:15 am, alarm goes off. YES!!! It's finally here, after 5 months of planning, scouring the DIS boards, driving my BF crazy IT IS HERE---WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!! But wait, how come I am not THAT excited? Maybe because it's 4:15 in the morning and I still have to get on the plane...I'll get excited when we get there!
I get up first because I know BF still wants to roll over and hit the snooze button (you will see this as a pattern on this trip). After I get out of the shower I am pleased to see him up and ready to get in the shower. After we are all ready I wake my mom up at 5:15 (she is NOT happy with me at this hour), so she can drive us to the airport. Now, I live 20 minutes away from JFK with no traffic, but, as any New Yorker will tell you, traffic is VERY unpredictable, so I made us all leave with PLENTY of time to make my 8:05 am flight. So we leave at 5:30 and we are in front of the Jetblue terminal at 5:55. My BF gives me this look like great NOW what are we going to do, but I just ignore him because I know standing on that long line to check in and going through security will eat up a lot of time. I was partially right, but we still made it through security by 6:20. The plane started boarding at 7:40 which left us plenty of time to get some breakfast and relax before we got on the plane. We decided to go to the Sbarro booth for breakfast. I am not sure what made us want to get breakfast from a pizza chain, but they had a grill and we both wanted eggs. We both got bagels with egg, and let me tell you---dont ever get breakfast from a pizza restaurant our breakfast tasted like, you guessed it, pizza (yuck at 6:30 in the morning!). Side note: They were actually serving pizza at this time, we saw one guy walk off the line with a slice. Leave it to us New Yorkers to eat pizza for breakfast!
Once we were done, we headed over to the gate and waited to board. I like to sit in the front of the airplane (our seats were in row 4), and Jetblue always loads their passengers from the back to the front, so we waited quite some time to board. Once on the plane, it took no time for us to take off. The reason why I fly Jetblue, and keep in mind this is one of the ONLY airlines I will fly, is for their superb customer service. They are very friendly and helpful, even when things arent going according to schedule (although during our flight home they werent QUITE as friendly). Another plus to Jetblue is the personal tvs at every seat! I like this a lot because I cant really read on airplanes, it makes me nauseous, so the tv is perfect for me. On this particular flight however, I was way to fidgety/anxious to watch anything
2 hrs 46 min later .we land in sunny Orlando!!! YES! We are here! We get off the plane and get on one of those tram thingies to the main terminal. Once off the tram, we were greeted by a DME representative, who seemed to KNOW that we were there visiting the mouse, and he directed us to DME check-in. Once there, we waited on line for about 10 minutes, we checked in which took about 2 mins, then we were directed to a line to wait for our bus. Once we got on the line, the DME cast member told us to go ahead and board the bus, and then sent the bus on its way. She even said youre lucky, you made it just in time. WOW, the magic was happening all ready! Now, correct me if Im wrong, but arent they supposed to play some kind of movie or something while riding the DME to your hotel? Arent they also supposed to talk to you and give you little facts about WDW? We got nothing. No movie, no talking, our driver wasnt even that friendly (we did tip however because we had one carryon bag that had to go under the bus).
First stop, Animal Kingdom Lodge. Now I originally wanted to stay here, as it is the least expensive deluxe resort, but the BF didnt think we could afford it and would have rather spent the money on a nice dinner. But from what I saw, this hotel looked AWESOME! After the AKL, we headed over to our hotel Coronado Springs. What an amazing hotel! We fell in love with it! More on our hotel later
After we got off the bus, we stood on line to check in. Once at the counter, the CM told us that she couldnt give us what we requested, Cabana 9B, but she could give us Cabana 8A but it wasnt ready yet. We said fine, she gave us a card to call after 3 to see if it was ready, and we headed over to the Dig Site for some lunch and pool time. We change into our bathing suits and go over to Siestas, the pool bar, for some lunch. I got the chicken tenders and BF got the Buffalo Chicken sandwich. I thought it was very good and BF enjoyed his as well. After lunch, we staked out a spot by the pool. Well, stupid me forgets the suntan lotion (I am VERY fair-skinned) and was not able to sit in the sun. We finally found two chairs next to eachother, one half in the shade and the other in the sun. My BF takes the one in the sun (he never uses suntan lotion) and I sit in the other one. After about 20 minutes, I couldnt take it anymore after that experience I carried my little travel suntan lotion (SPF 30) with me WHEREVER I went!
After our little debacle in the sun, we decided we should call to see if our room is ready. We knew it was only 1:45, but thought we would give it a shot. No deal, they said it wasnt readyGREAT! What were we going to do?!? Our plan was to have dinner at Mexico (6 pm AS) and then watch Illuminations. We decided to rent a Surrey Bike (its covered, no sun interaction) and ride around the resort. Yeah, well that lasted about 12 minutes. It was hot. BF was getting tired. And all I wanted was a shower! We sat down on a bench in the shade and talked a little about our upcoming week and what we were most excited about. At this point its almost 3 pm, and I thought the room HAS to be ready by now! Being from NYC, I am almost conditioned to be impatient, so I call and very politely inquired about our room. The very SNOTTY CM on the other end informs me it is not ready yet and to remember I was quoted the room to be ready between 3-5 OK, so now Im pissed. I have a 6pm ressie in Mexico and I have been checked in since 11:30 am, I want a room now! I ask the CM if there are any other rooms. She says yes. Good! Ill take it. What, its in Ranchos? 7B?!? Thats one of the furthest sections of the hotel!
OK, fine
just let me in my room. The CM tells me to go to guest relations OR the front desk to get our room number, she says whichever line is shortest. Hmmm
guest relations??? I have an idea!
Cast:
Me (26) - Have been to Disney four other times, most recent was 8 years ago.
BF (25) - Has been only two other times, didn't stay onsite for the most recent time.
Day One - Part 1:
4:15 am, alarm goes off. YES!!! It's finally here, after 5 months of planning, scouring the DIS boards, driving my BF crazy IT IS HERE---WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!! But wait, how come I am not THAT excited? Maybe because it's 4:15 in the morning and I still have to get on the plane...I'll get excited when we get there!
I get up first because I know BF still wants to roll over and hit the snooze button (you will see this as a pattern on this trip). After I get out of the shower I am pleased to see him up and ready to get in the shower. After we are all ready I wake my mom up at 5:15 (she is NOT happy with me at this hour), so she can drive us to the airport. Now, I live 20 minutes away from JFK with no traffic, but, as any New Yorker will tell you, traffic is VERY unpredictable, so I made us all leave with PLENTY of time to make my 8:05 am flight. So we leave at 5:30 and we are in front of the Jetblue terminal at 5:55. My BF gives me this look like great NOW what are we going to do, but I just ignore him because I know standing on that long line to check in and going through security will eat up a lot of time. I was partially right, but we still made it through security by 6:20. The plane started boarding at 7:40 which left us plenty of time to get some breakfast and relax before we got on the plane. We decided to go to the Sbarro booth for breakfast. I am not sure what made us want to get breakfast from a pizza chain, but they had a grill and we both wanted eggs. We both got bagels with egg, and let me tell you---dont ever get breakfast from a pizza restaurant our breakfast tasted like, you guessed it, pizza (yuck at 6:30 in the morning!). Side note: They were actually serving pizza at this time, we saw one guy walk off the line with a slice. Leave it to us New Yorkers to eat pizza for breakfast!
Once we were done, we headed over to the gate and waited to board. I like to sit in the front of the airplane (our seats were in row 4), and Jetblue always loads their passengers from the back to the front, so we waited quite some time to board. Once on the plane, it took no time for us to take off. The reason why I fly Jetblue, and keep in mind this is one of the ONLY airlines I will fly, is for their superb customer service. They are very friendly and helpful, even when things arent going according to schedule (although during our flight home they werent QUITE as friendly). Another plus to Jetblue is the personal tvs at every seat! I like this a lot because I cant really read on airplanes, it makes me nauseous, so the tv is perfect for me. On this particular flight however, I was way to fidgety/anxious to watch anything
2 hrs 46 min later .we land in sunny Orlando!!! YES! We are here! We get off the plane and get on one of those tram thingies to the main terminal. Once off the tram, we were greeted by a DME representative, who seemed to KNOW that we were there visiting the mouse, and he directed us to DME check-in. Once there, we waited on line for about 10 minutes, we checked in which took about 2 mins, then we were directed to a line to wait for our bus. Once we got on the line, the DME cast member told us to go ahead and board the bus, and then sent the bus on its way. She even said youre lucky, you made it just in time. WOW, the magic was happening all ready! Now, correct me if Im wrong, but arent they supposed to play some kind of movie or something while riding the DME to your hotel? Arent they also supposed to talk to you and give you little facts about WDW? We got nothing. No movie, no talking, our driver wasnt even that friendly (we did tip however because we had one carryon bag that had to go under the bus).
First stop, Animal Kingdom Lodge. Now I originally wanted to stay here, as it is the least expensive deluxe resort, but the BF didnt think we could afford it and would have rather spent the money on a nice dinner. But from what I saw, this hotel looked AWESOME! After the AKL, we headed over to our hotel Coronado Springs. What an amazing hotel! We fell in love with it! More on our hotel later
After we got off the bus, we stood on line to check in. Once at the counter, the CM told us that she couldnt give us what we requested, Cabana 9B, but she could give us Cabana 8A but it wasnt ready yet. We said fine, she gave us a card to call after 3 to see if it was ready, and we headed over to the Dig Site for some lunch and pool time. We change into our bathing suits and go over to Siestas, the pool bar, for some lunch. I got the chicken tenders and BF got the Buffalo Chicken sandwich. I thought it was very good and BF enjoyed his as well. After lunch, we staked out a spot by the pool. Well, stupid me forgets the suntan lotion (I am VERY fair-skinned) and was not able to sit in the sun. We finally found two chairs next to eachother, one half in the shade and the other in the sun. My BF takes the one in the sun (he never uses suntan lotion) and I sit in the other one. After about 20 minutes, I couldnt take it anymore after that experience I carried my little travel suntan lotion (SPF 30) with me WHEREVER I went!
After our little debacle in the sun, we decided we should call to see if our room is ready. We knew it was only 1:45, but thought we would give it a shot. No deal, they said it wasnt readyGREAT! What were we going to do?!? Our plan was to have dinner at Mexico (6 pm AS) and then watch Illuminations. We decided to rent a Surrey Bike (its covered, no sun interaction) and ride around the resort. Yeah, well that lasted about 12 minutes. It was hot. BF was getting tired. And all I wanted was a shower! We sat down on a bench in the shade and talked a little about our upcoming week and what we were most excited about. At this point its almost 3 pm, and I thought the room HAS to be ready by now! Being from NYC, I am almost conditioned to be impatient, so I call and very politely inquired about our room. The very SNOTTY CM on the other end informs me it is not ready yet and to remember I was quoted the room to be ready between 3-5 OK, so now Im pissed. I have a 6pm ressie in Mexico and I have been checked in since 11:30 am, I want a room now! I ask the CM if there are any other rooms. She says yes. Good! Ill take it. What, its in Ranchos? 7B?!? Thats one of the furthest sections of the hotel!
OK, fine
just let me in my room. The CM tells me to go to guest relations OR the front desk to get our room number, she says whichever line is shortest. Hmmm
guest relations??? I have an idea!
